Bothered by the seemingly lack of awareness of the deadly cervical cancer ailment among Nigerian women, the Queen of Emerald Nigeria, QOEN (World) 2016, Queen Jennifer Ighedosa, has pledged total commitment to facilitate special programmes to boost the knowledge of cervical cancer among Nigerians.

Queen of Emerald Nigeria, World 2016, Queen Jennifer Ighedosa

Recall that last year, a Radiologist, Prof. Ifeoma Okoye, had disclosed that no fewer than 64 in 100 Nigerian women diagnosed of cervical cancer died annually.
Okoye, who is also the Founder of Breast without Spot Initiative, an NGO, disclosed that 47.7 million Nigerian female, aged 15 years and above, are at risk of cervical cancer.

According to her, these needless deaths can be curbed because cervical cancer is one of the most preventive forms of cancer.

Okoye had said that “According to a study by Cervical Cancer Global Crisis Card, of the 14,550 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in women of 15 to 44 years of age annually in Nigeria, as many as 9,659 of them die.

“This means that 64 out of every 100 Nigerian women diagnosed of cervical cancer in one year lose their lives. The mortality rate in Nigeria is 23 per cent. Cervical cancer is preventable because the causative agent which is Human Papilloma Virus is known and it is responsible for causing 100 per cent of cervical cancer cases.”

Against this backdrop, Queen Ighedosa, who hails from Igueben Local Government Area, Edo State, who emerged Queen of Emerald Nigeria (World) 2016, after beating 40 queens from the over 300 nationwide contestants, said that she contested for the prestigious beauty pageant to help boost her confidence and also help motivate people.

She said: “As the aim of QOEN which is to enlighten Nigerians about #CervicalCancer, I would make sure I speak for cervical cancer patients. Under my reign, I would stand and speak up for those suffering from this killer cancer scourge.

“However, I also wish to encourage young women, to contest in subsequent editions of Queen Of Emerald Nigeria beauty pageant to stand the chance to gain stand out among other pageants.”

She, however added that every part of her body is her selling point and not just her face or perfectly endowed physique.